Why You Can Trust CNET Buy the PS5 and Xbox Series X -- if you can: Best Buy's site struggles with restock demand
Looking for a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S? Best Buy says it has them today, but its site is buckling under the load.
Today may be your last, best chance to score a PS5 or Xbox Series X or S before Christmas. The next-gen consoles went live at Best Buy at 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET), as teased by the retailer on Monday -- and the site promptly buckled under the demand. As with Walmart and other retailers earlier this season, the preplanned inventory drops have been creating such demand that the retailers' sites either crash or become effectively unusable. Best Buy's site was showing "We're sorry, something went wrong" messages on many of the product pages for the consoles in question shortly after 6 a.m. PT.
Just before 10 a.m. PT, CNET was able to confirm that the Best Buy website began selling at least some of its PlayStation 5 stock to at least some users, though you had to be both quick and lucky to get through checkout. Despite yellow "add to cart" buttons appearing, Best Buy's app was giving pop-ups advising shoppers that in some cases it couldn't add the item to the cart and that more inventory would be released "every few minutes."
The pop-up added a "tip" that if you can get it into the cart go to "checkout quickly because it will sell out soon."
Around 12:15 p.m. PT, Best Buy began listing Xbox consoles for sale, though like the PS5 if you have a chance to add it to your cart you will want to check out quickly.
Read more: Miss out at Best Buy? Walmart is listing more next-gen consoles for sale on Tuesday
Is any inventory for the PS5 or Xbox models still available? It's unclear, but here are the links to the company's pages for all four consoles if you'd like to try your luck.
Picking up the disc drive version of the PS5 may cost more in the beginning, but it does allow you access to cheaper games at retail.
It's missing the grunt of the Xbox Series X, but this console is cheaper and looks much nicer. Great as a secondary console, or for folks who just want to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass.
On paper, the Xbox Series X is the most powerful of all the next-gen consoles.
Despite going on sale over a month ago, the new PlayStations and Xboxes remain incredibly difficult to find. Best Buy's tweet announcing that it will have more stock on Tuesday was retweeted over 1,600 times within 50 minutes of going out.
Heads up—we’re getting more NextGen consoles very soon! Check back tomorrow after 8 a.m. CT to see what we have in stock. https://t.co/1Isajk4QLL pic.twitter.com/dbeetPgJ5b
— Best Buy (@BestBuy) December 14, 2020
Has anybody actually been successful in buying one yet today? Based on anecdotal (and unverified) screenshots on Twitter like the one below, it seems like at least a lucky few made it through:
Thanks again bro. I almost slept through my alarms. pic.twitter.com/FL4qwyBu7G
— Michael M 🤓 (@BlackMMagic6) December 15, 2020
Will there be any more stock available at Best Buy today? We have an inquiry out to the retailer and will update this story when or if we hear any specifics.
Read more: Sony PS5 vs. Microsoft Xbox Series X: The best new game console for holiday 2020
Read more at GameSpot: PS5 and Xbox Series X/S will be in stock at Best Buy on Tuesday